Starving
by mafialegs
Summary: Ginny's feelings for Hermione lead into serious problems with eating.
1. Obsession

It's Ginny's fourth year at Hogwarts. Her feelings toward Hermione are more than friendly and the seek of acceptance from the friend gets Ginny into trouble with food.

I don't own the characters or the places mentioned in the text.

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The door was tightly shut and no sounds escaped through it into the girls' bathroom. Ginny stood in front of the full height mirror hanging on the wall. She had tied her messy red hair up and tried to see herself from as many angles as she could. She frowned at the sight of her hips that had widened a lot during the past two years and now started to look like a woman's. Her thighs were not as skinny as they had been when she was a child and came to Hogwarts for the first time. When she became friends with Hermione Granger. The thought of her made Ginny feel unsure. What would Hermione say if she saw her best friend like this, naked and flawed? She started to feel awful. There was practically nothing left of the beautiful little girl Hermione had liked so much and Ginny didn't want it to be like that. She was almost certain there was a way to make her friend see her the way Ginny saw her.

Of course Ginny had never really dared to hope Hermione would understand her. It wasn't normal for a girl to like women, but for her it had never been much of an issue. She had noticed her feelings at an early age and never before had they been a problem. For the last months, however, her heated thoughts about her best friend had become hard to live with. She knew perfectly well Hermione wasn't the type of a girl who'd answer her feelings. After all, she had been together with Ron for almost a year and seemed happy in her relationship. _At least she seems to like the Weasley look,_ Ginny thought with a sarcastic smile on her freckled face.

_Just that one miserable thing hanging between my brother's legs makes him better than me_, Ginny reminded herself. _How unfair is that._

Hermione was a prefect. She was known for her sense and responsibility. Of course it would be absolutely out of question for someone like her to fall in love with a girl and Ginny understood it. She just wasn't ready to give up before trying. She lifted up her chin and cast a disapproving glance at her curves. She promised herself to get rid of all the extra in her body before next Christmas. It meant she had almost three months and that would sure be enough. She smiled to herself and quickly covered her body with her school uniform. Her hair was a complete mess but she didn't have enough time to do anything to it so she just added some lip-gloss and hurried out of the bathroom just in time to get breakfast.

The Great Hall was almost empty. To her great relief Ginny didn't see her friends anywhere. She sat down on a long wooden bench in the far end of the Gryffindor table. Some bread and fruits appeared on a neat blue plate in front of her. She took a slice of buttered bread but hesitantly put it back when a mocking little voice in her head reminded her of the promise she'd made to herself. Instead she chose a red apple and bit it slowly, enjoying the fresh sweet taste. She could almost feel how her belly started to get smaller. A glance at the big clock above her head told her she was almost late for her transfiguration class so she stood up and collected her bag and robes. On the way to the corridor where the class was she saw the poltergeist Peeves but fortunately managed to pass him without problems.

The class seemed to be over before Ginny even realized it had begun. She loved transfiguration and time always flew when she had the chance to practice some new spell. Her pumpkin had successfully transformed into a beautiful porcelain cup. She had managed to refuse the temptation to fill it with hot chocolate, but the thought of chocolate made her stomach remember how little she had eaten. After the class Ginny had planned to spend some time with her potions homework that she hadn't had time to finish earlier but suddenly Harry and Ron appeared. They asked her if she knew where Hermione was, and they started to talk about professor Snape's sadistic essay titles. Ron made a nasty remark about Snape in such a bad language that professor McGonagall gave him a disapproving look as she passed the trio. They decided to meet before lunch in the Great Hall.

All house tables were crowded and it was hard to find enough places for all the three of them. The boys were chatting about something Susan Bones had said during their herbology class and seemed to be having fun. Ginny felt a wave of combined disgust and hunger when she saw the huge amounts of food on the plates. Roasted chicken smelt great but Ginny had been a vegetarian for some time already so she gave her wand a small wave that made the chicken disappear. Instead she got some baked fluxweed on her plate. It had never been her favourite and compared to the wonderful greasy smell of chicken in the air the fluxweed stank quite nauseating. Ginny bowed her head and sighed.

Finally Hermione arrived, carrying a pile of books in her hands. She smiled brightly and gave Ron a kiss on the forehead before taking a seat. Ginny felt like throwing the smelly fluxweed to her brother's stupid grinning face. She hadn't managed to eat any of it yet and the others were almost finished. She noticed Hermione looking at her untouched plate with a concerned expression but pretended not to. Her stomach was painfully empty but the thought of eating had started to feel even harder after Hermione had arrived. How could she ever earn any admiration from her if she ate like a pig in front of her? Ron suggested they go to the Quidditch pitch for their practice and Ginny was delighted to get an excuse to skip the meal. She said she'd get her broomstick and be at the pitch in a minute.

Once in the girl's dormitories Hermione asked Ginny if she was all right. The redhead just nodded hastily and tried obviously to avoid the question. Hermione didn't want to give up so easily. She raised her hand on her little friend's chin in a gentle but somewhat bossy gesture.

"Ginevra Weasley, be honest with me now. I'm not here to blame you for anything; I'm just concerned about you. Are you okay?"

"Yes 'Mione I'm alright. Now may I please go? My practice started two minutes ago." Ginny replied, already half out of the door.

Her eyes didn't meet Hermione's. On her way to the quidditch pitch she couldn't think about anything else but the tender touch of her friend's fingers on her chin. When Hermione lifted Ron's chin like that it usually meant she was going to kiss him.


	2. Suspicions and plots

The weeks went by and everything continued like before. Not many noticed the change in the youngest Weasley and those who did thought they should mind their own business. Ginny had been playing quidditch at least four times a week for the past month. She had also started jogging. Every morning she woke up earlier than the others and ran along the numerous jogging routes near the Forbidden Forest. At first her lungs had protested this but now she was well able to run half an hour every morning and not be out of breath at breakfast. She was in better condition than she had ever been but she wasn't particularly proud of it. She had lost some weight but not enough, and her goal still seemed to be miles away. Hermione was still with Ron and Ginny was just the nice little friend.

Ginny was just hooking her bra when Hermione entered the room. They both froze for a moment, then Hermione apologized and Ginny quickly found her shirt. Ginny felt her cheeks blush. It wasn't the first time Hermione had seen her without a shirt but this time it felt exceptionally embarrassing because this was the first time Ginny cared about what Hermione thought about her body.

"Gin. Are you sure you're not taking this sport thing a bit too far?" Hermione asked, her voice unsure but determined.

"Yes. I happen to like sports. Why, do you have a problem with it?"

"No," Hermione answered. "But I thought you might have a problem with it. I couldn't help noticing you've lost a lot of weight--"

_So you thought I was fat before, I knew it,_ Ginny thought bitterly.

"—And I just wouldn't like you to get into trouble." The brunette continued in a low voice.

Ginny didn't say anything; she just stood up and left the dormitories.

The petite redhead was once again in the bathroom she had started to think as hers – anyone else rarely came there. She emptied her pockets - a slice of bread and some cookies she hadn't been able to eat at breakfast - and flushed the contents down the toilet. Then she slowly stripped off her robes and started her weekly routine of monitoring the changes in her body. The hips were still disturbingly wide and stomach clearly visible, but she had managed to make things a little bit better. She turned and looked at the line her spine formed in the middle of her freckled back. It looked like a big snake and Ginny liked it. She tried to see herself through Hermione's eyes but failed. The friend was clearly worried about her but just as a friend, nothing more. Maybe she still found her unattractive. Maybe she thought Ginny was still an ugly loser.

_Of course_, Ginny thought. _Hermione loves knowledge. Maybe it means that she loves smart people_. inny had never been a spectacularly bright kid. She wasn't stupid either, just the average. If it wasn't enough for Hermione that she was beautiful, she would definitely appreciate her more if she was also smart. Happy about her discovery Ginny made a plan. She would ask her best friend for help in studying. She had her OWLs coming and she had to practice at least herbology and the care of magical creatures if she wanted to become a veterinarian some day. The long hours spent alone with the object of her admiration in the quiet library were already big enough a reason to ask, and if Hermione saw how well she learned and how smart she actually was, then maybe she would open her eyes. Maybe she would understand how much Ginny needed her. She truly hoped Hermione would take the bait.

"'Mione, are you busy?" Ginny whispered to the brunette's ear trying not to disturb others in the library.

"Not at all. Please, take a seat."

Ginny sat down and started to tell Hermione about her studying. She told about her plans to be a veterinarian and tried to sound enthusiastic when suggesting she could study extra herbology. Hermione smiled and Ginny felt like dancing and jumping when she asked if her friend needed help with the plan.

"...Would you really like to help me?"

"Hey, silly, of course I would. That's what friends are for." Hermione fell into a pensive silence. Then, slowly, she continued: "I'm willing to help you study if you promise me you'll start eating again."

Ginny's smile died away. Hermione gave her a warm hug that took the redhead completely by surprise.

"I just don't want to lose you, Gin."

After that things had started to get complicated. Studying with Hermione was great. They spent wonderful afternoons in the library and sometimes forgot to study at all. Often they started conversations that would go on in the Gryffindor common room for hours after they should have gone to sleep. Hermione told her about her problems with Ron – a thing Ginny loved hearing about – and Ginny shared some of her secrets with her. Her love to Hermione grew with every hour they spent together, but she never had the courage to tell about her feelings. It wasn't just Hermione's company that was nice; Ginny realized even studying itself could be fun and she learnt a lot, too.

She had promised to eat properly. Well, she did eat, at least when someone was around. After a couple of days it had, however, started to be so hard she had had to find a way to avoid eating too much. Hermione didn't understand her but that was natural - after all, the friend had always been so perfect herself. She for sure didn't have a clue of how it was like to be fat, so maybe it was better just to pretend to eat properly. Luckily, the friend spent most of her time with Ron and wasn't able to control Ginny. Sometimes Ginny felt bad about being dishonest but most of the time she agreed to play by the common rules in public and keep her own problems to herself - if there really even was a problem.

It was hard to hide food at dinner because people watched her. Then again, finishing a meal repeatedly with an untouched plate was highly suspicious. Ginny had tried to find a spell that would somehow cancel what the food had done but all she found was a two-second-diet that was so difficult she would be well past her NEWTs when learning it. Throwing up had never really been an option, but once, after an exceptionally revolting meal, she had given up and emptied her stomach to the toilet. Somehow it had given her satisfaction to see her meal disappear with the water, but afterwards she had cried for a long time and regretted what she'd done. After that it hadn't been so difficult anymore. Hermione thought her friend was eating and that allowed them more time together, which was the only thing she needed then.


	3. The great fall

Most of the teachers were really happy about the way the Weasley girl had been studying. Only Madame Hooch was a bit worried - the girl had sometimes been so tired in the games it was a miracle she hadn't fallen off the broomstick. Hermione was happy about the way Ginny had been eating and hadn't noticed how skinny she actually was since the friend had carefully avoided taking her clothes off in her presence. Harry and Ron were happily unaware of everything concerning the irritating little sister. Ginny's robes were big enough to hide her body from the others and she was the only one who could have seen the skeletal wrists or the way all her ribs were visible under the fragile skin. But of course she didn't see them.

Double potions, herbology, arithmancy and divination - Ginny was exhausted. The day had seemed to last an eternity and still she didn't remember any of it. She had sat in the crowded classrooms but seen no one and read countless pages but gotten no information. Her mind was blank and her hands shook so much and the tiredness was so overpowering it was hard to concentrate on anything. She had to move slowly because any sudden movement sent black tiny spots dancing in her eyes and her vision was almost constantly a bit blurred. Her head felt so heavy at times she could have collapsed on the corridor. School didn't interest her that much anymore - classes were just something to keep her away from the bathroom. Only there, sheltered within the familiar walls, she could feel safe.

She pushed her fingers to her throat once again but everything that came up was burning liquid. Tears run down her swollen face and deep sobs shook her whole tiny body. She felt like screaming or praying but wasn't strong enough to do that anymore after all the crying and vomiting. Finally she gave up and curled on the floor, putting her arms around her. She was cold and sore and she wasn't sure how long she just lay there on the floor, shaking and whining. When the door opened hours afterwards the messy girl on the floor was finally asleep. Her red hair was tangled around her neck and hands, face hidden behind the thin white arms. Minerva McGonagall hurried instantly away to get madame Pomfrey.

_Your eyes full of disappointment._

_Your accusing gestures, loathing voice._

_I can feel your beautiful fingers_

_tearing my soft screaming flesh_

_You telling it to me, a whisper,_

_you yelling to my face_

_how I'm fat, too fat, a pig, a monster, my body making you sick, my words too, my existence just a sad mistake, my failure all you see. _

When Ginny opened her eyes everything felt so warm and quiet she thought she had maybe gone to heaven. Pretty soon she noticed the white bed was surrounded by monitors and strange ticking and beeping objects. Madame Pomfrey sighed in relief when Ginny finally looked at her.

"You've been asleep for over 48 hours, my child. Your family has been so worried about you. We owled your mother and she's waiting for you to wake up. Ron's also there."

Ginny gave a weak smile and tried to say something but her throat objected.

"Is Hermione there, too?" she managed to whisper.

Madame Pomfrey nodded. She gave the girl an encouraging smile and told a nurse to tell the happy news to the family.

Ginny's mother and brother came in, followed by Harry, professor McGonagall and Hermione. They all seemed worried but relieved. In the thin white hospital gown Ginny's body looked fragile and unbelievably tiny. For the first time the visitors actually saw how skinny the girl was. Tears appeared in Mrs. Weasley's eyes and Hermione felt terribly bad for not taking enough care of her friend. For a while the visitors were allowed to be around Ginny's bed but when the girl started to show signs of tiredness again madame Pomfrey told everyone to leave the patient alone. Ginny knew she had to talk to someone about all this but she was so tired she didn't believe it would be possible for a while.

Many weeks went by and Ginny slept most of the time. She didn't wholly understand everything happening around her, but she was slowly starting to gain strength again. An old strict mediwizard had ordered madame Pomfrey to take care of her nourishment. Ginny's mother stayed in Hogwarts for some time to take care of her daughter while Arthur had to work. The hospital staff had to take care of Ginny's physical recovery, but the most important thing now was to get the patient feel loved and safe. The best way to accomplish that was to have her family and friends supporting her all the time.

At first madame Pomfrey allowed Ginny only some bizarre liquid but no proper food. She didn't really care that much, she just slept most of the day anyway. Dumbledore had given her permission - or an order - to be away from her classes for as long a time as needed. She had to talk with a muggle-born psychiatrist every other day. Eating disorders couldn't be treated with magic because the cause was mental, not physical. The muggle way to cope with the sickness seemed to work, anyway: as time went by Ginny started to realize she had problem. It was of course remarkable, but the psychiatrist told her it was only the first step, though – admitting the problem was not yet the same as being healthy.


	4. Sleeping Beauty

Note: I changed something in the end of the third chapter and added bits of it here, so you may want to read the third chapter again before this.

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After getting medical treatment for quite a long time Ginny was finally allowed to go out sometimes. She had asked Hermione to come with her and they had sat under the big trees on the front lawn of the school for half an hour. They had talked a lot but neither of them really knew how to approach the subject that was making things between them a bit difficult - Ginny's sickness. When Ginny had been in the hospital wing full time Hermione had studied eating disorders. She had tried to find out every possible reason for her friend's condition but hadn't succeeded. Ginny wasn't an overachiever or an especially careful pupil, and Hermione had always thought she was happy. Realizing she hadn't been able to stop her friend soon enough was a thing she found hard to accept. 

Ginny had to go to control checks many times a day and someone was always watching her while she was supposed to eat, but otherwise she was already allowed to sleep in her own bed sometimes and spend most of the day with her friends. No sports were allowed and she wasn't to be left alone yet, but anything was better than the hospital wing twenty-four hours a day. Now it was getting late and the girls collected their bags and headed to the dorms. Once in the common room Hermione watched Ginny eat the small bowl of oatmeal that waited for her on the table. It was clearly hard and it took a very long time for the little redhead to finish the meal, but the pleased smile on her freckled face afterwards was a wonderful sight. Hermione gave her friend a little kiss on the forehead and said she would still study a while. Ginny just nodded and smiled, she was so tired it was hard to concentrate anymore.

_Too often I've woken up in the middle of the night, your picture in my head. Your body against mine, your soft hands on me, your lips on mine like a burning river of crimson ash. Those nightmares never have happy endings._

_I need you, I need you so much more. Toisinaan kauneutesi sokaisee minut._

_You hold my trembling hand, you say it's all right. You care about me. And every time you caress me in the dark I feel like I could die for you. At the same time I know what you do is just a friendly gesture. I know you feel guilty about my condition but you have no idea._

Ginny lay in her bed, lonely and cold. Hermione was still in the common room and didn't know she was awake. She sighed and turned around so that she faced the wall. She let her thoughts wander. She would have to finish some of the fourth grade classes with a private teacher and she had had to skip the OWLs and would try again next year. She didn't really care. In the open she behaved nice and often almost happy, but her mind was a mess. School was not interesting anymore and she didn't really know if she wanted to be a veterinarian after all. Hermione had said she'd like to be an auror. Funny, Ginny had never actually thought what Hermione would be when grown-up – somehow the friend had always seemed too good to any profession.

Ginny knew she was not healthy yet. She ate all right, but that was not all that mattered. The symptoms were maybe mostly away, but she still sometimes felt very disgusted about food and was all but happy about her body. However, her self-esteem was slowly starting to rise and she understood why she had to eat and had to live. But full recovery would need something else, too – she would have to get rid of the reason to this all. She would have to tell Hermione about how she felt. Having Hermione with her, returning her feelings, would be the heaven. Even a strict no would be better than this torturing hope. A romantic person as she was, Ginny had always liked being in love. Never before had she known how dreadful the most beautiful thing on earth could become.

After tossing and turning between the uncomfortably hot sheets for an eternity Ginny gave up and decided to go and see if Hermione would like to keep her company. She tiptoed through the dormitory and tried not to wake the other sleeping gryffindor girls up. She held her breath when she reached the door to the common room. It was silent and peaceful. The fire was almost dead but it still gave the room a dim red shade. On the round small table in one corner of the room was an enormous pile of books and papers. Behind them was Hermione, her head resting on the table and the untamed brown curls everywhere around her. Her eyes were closed and she was completely relaxed. To Ginny it was the most beautiful sight ever.

She tucked the sleeping beauty gently.

"I'm not sure if I should've kissed you awake but…" Ginny whispered, smiling.

Hermione opened her eyes slowly.

"What?" She murmured, her voice husky with sleep.

"Oh, never mind. You fell asleep." The little redhead informed her friend.

Hermione crawled into a sitting position and shook her head in awe. She didn't understand how she could have fallen asleep like this. She gave a cute short laugh that caused soft pain in Ginny's chest, somewhere around her racing little heart.

"So, little one, what brings you here? I thought you were sleeping already."

"I couldn't get any sleep and I hoped you'd be here," Ginny answered, a smile on her pale face.

Hermione hugged her and asked if there was anything she could do, but Ginny just sighed. She couldn't get enough of the warm feeling of the friend's arms around her and for a split second she could imagine Hermione feeling the same. Then the prefect burst her bubble by lifting her up.

"Hey, let's go to sleep. Maybe I won't be able to study anymore," the friend said. Ginny answered with a yawn, which made them both laugh.


	5. The confession

It had been almost a week since Ginny had decided to let Hermione know about her true feelings, but she still hadn't been able to force herself into it. Every time she thought it was a good moment, something – or someone – interrupted her. Like a few days ago when Ron had popped in and hugged Hermione and told the stupid little sister to get lost. Ginny had felt like telling the irritable boy exactly how much and most of all why she sometimes hated him so much. Of course she just remained silent and agreed to leave the couple alone, telling herself to be calm. Inside she was screaming and scratching deep wounds into the stupid evil heart of hers, the one that didn't let her live without constant pain caused by the one she loved. Now Hermione was there, walking by her side in the quiet almost empty park. It was now or never, Ginny thought and inhaled deeply.

"'Mione. I think… I think I should tell you something." Ginny's voice was trembling.

"Yes, dear?"

Ginny blinked. Dear? Oh my, Hermione sure wasn't making this easy for her.

"Well, I just… I'm not what you think I am. Or, err, I am, but…"

Hermione's expression grew concerned as she tried to encourage the redhead to go on. After a lot of meaningless muttering and sighing she blurted it out.

"I'm in love."

"Oh but that's nice --"

"…With you."

Hermione's smile died away and her mouth dropped slightly open.

"Oh. Right."

Those two words seemed to be everything the girl was ever going to say. Ginny would have wanted to hit her head against a wall or something. The love of her life stood in front of her, her brown eyes absolutely adorable when she showed signs of uncertainty. It seemed like the great prefect for once had nothing to say. A hint of betrayal started to creep up Ginny's spine. Hating would have been okay, but this silence was unbearable.

"So you think you don't need to say anything? You think you can just stand there and break my heart without saying one word?"

"No, Ginny, that's not what I --"

"You can't say you don't love me before you've even tried! Don't you like me at all? Am I that ugly?" Ginny's accusations were lost in a deep sob and Hermione could see tears in her eyes. Ginny rushed away, leaving her alone and perplexed.

Hermione felt a little bit angry already and yelled at her friend's back:

"You can't blame me for being straight! For God's sake, Ginny, I can't love you any more than you could love a boy, and you know it!" She regretted the words the moment they'd come out of her mouth, but it was too late already. A group of giggling first-year Gryffindor girls fell silent and turned to stare at her. She flashed them an 'I know it all so you shut up'-smile.

Beneath the smile she was angry and sad. She didn't know how she could make Ginny understand. Despite everything she had read and studied, she wasn't ready for this situation. Of course she knew homosexuality existed, and some of her favourite teachers – like Remus Lupin – were known to be like that. But it was always different when it was someone close to you, or worse yet, when that someone happened to be in love with you. She actually appreciated Ginny's courage to confess her feelings and didn't feel disgusted or anything, but she was still shocked. She was together with Ginny's brother for God's sake.

She hated yelling and knew how much Ginny was afraid of people being angry with her. The most important thing now would be to find her before she would do anything stupid. Misunderstandings were something Hermione had always hated from the bottom of her heart, but solving them had never been her thing. After all, setting things right was her duty and so she made up her mind and started to look for her friend. Actually it wasn't a hard task at all, because Ginny was where she always was when something was wrong – in the bathroom up in the third floor of the building. When Hermione reached the bathroom she knocked on the door. She had run all the way and was somewhat exhausted already. No one answered but she knew someone was in there because the door was locked and she could hear irregular breathing accompanied by occasional sobbing.

Ginny took a deep breath before saying anything.

"Yes?"

"Ginny, just please listen to me this time. I want to make my point clear, ok?" Hermione said with a pleading tone in her voice.

Ginny opened the door warily to let her friend in. To tell the truth she had already started to understand, but wasn't going to give up on her anger just yet. She was a bit ashamed of her behaviour earlier but didn't want to admit it. She asked Hermione to talk.

"Okay. Please try to believe me. I think it's actually very nice… err… flattering what you feel. I mean, how could I hate you for something like this? I know it's normal. I'm not going to be angry with you or anything, actually I understand you pretty well."

"So you'd be in love with yourself, too?" Ginny asked smiling, though her face was still soaked with tears. Ginny couldn't help but to understand: she was nice and dear and wonderful and all – as a friend. Only as a friend.

Of course she had always known it would be hard to find someone who would answer her feelings, especially in the wizarding community where people weren't too familiar with things like homosexuality, but actually hearing it hurt. She would always be the nice guy who never gets the girl. Suddenly a thought lightened Hermione's face. Her expression went from the joy of discovery straight to horrified and finally very serious.

"Ginny, sweetheart, don't say you didn't eat because of… because…?"

The redhead nodded shyly, now a little embarrassed of what she'd done to herself. A new glimmer of tears appeared in the corners of her red and puffy eyes.

"I just wanted you to think I'm beautiful…"

This time Hermione felt like crying, too. She hugged her little friend and whispered soothing words to her ear.

"You're beautiful just the way you are, don't do stupid things to yourself. You'll always be my best friend, Gin-Gin. Never forget that, ok?"

_What if that's not what I want to be? What if it kills me every time I see my brother kissing you? What if I'm never going to get over this, over you? What if your arms around me and your friendly smiles torture me worse than hatred would? I'm not sure if I can be with you like this anymore. My feelings are so intense that they turn my friendliness into suffering and jealousy. Wouldn't you please disappear? _


	6. Epilogue

"Have you seen her eyes? I mean, really, how can someone have such eyes? They're so blue. So amazingly blue." There was a dreamy slowness in Ginny's voice when she told her best friend about the newest girl she was in love with.

"Okay, sweetie, this seems serious." Hermione's voice was playfully earnest.

"Oh it's not! But that hair... Oh my God. There she comes."

Luna Lovegood walked slowly across the lawn, a docile little smile on her face. Ginny's eyes followed her path and the absent-minded expression on her face told more than a hundred words.

It had been a whole year since Ginny's sickness and she could finally say she was over it. A great part of the recovery had gone alongside her changing feelings towards Hermione. Accepting the situation had finally led to a new friendship that was a lot more open than it had been.

"Gin, don't look back now but I think she's watching you."

"Are you sure?" Ginny blushed a bit. "Is there any disgust in her eyes?"

Hermione gave a quick laugh and described her friend in detail how absolutely terrified the girl seemed to be.

"Of course not, you stupid little creature. I'm actually quite sure she's interested." Hermione then added truthfully.

"Yeah right. Someone like her would never be interested in a girl like me… Or any girl."

Ginny still couldn't help but to turn and steal a quick glimpse of the blonde girl standing a little way away to their left. Luna smiled when their eyes met and Ginny felt a dozen butterflies suddenly fly inside of her. She returned the smile and turned away, her cheeks burning red and her heart thumping loudly.

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I'm finished now and I won't write more to this. Comments and corrections are always welcome!

(I've considered I could write a sequel to this though, following Ginny and Luna:) )


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